By Gistflash News
July 3, 2021
National Art Theatre workers have debunked an online publication which claimed that they accused the management of the theatre of looting.
The workers made the denial in a communique they issued at the end of a meeting they held over the publication.
They held the meeting on the platform of Joint Union Congress (JUC), National Theatre Chapter.
The JUC is made up of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), and Radio Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU).
The communique made available to NAN on Saturday was signed by Mrs Ogechi Ibeto and Mr Collins Olawuiye, Chairperson and Secretary, respectively, AUPCTRE, National Art Theatre Chapter; and Mr Augustine Agada and Mr Habib Usman, Chairman and Secretary, respectively, RATTAWU, National Theatre Chapter.
The workers described the publication as false and malicious.
They said that the publication with the caption “National Theatre workers accuse top management staff of looting, selling government properties”, was deceptive.
“The publication is one-sided and does not represent the interest and opinion of the staffers of the National Theatre.
“The entire workers of the National Theatre wish to distance themselves from the publication in view of the fact that the publication is nothing but a fallacy.
“It is a figment of the writer’s imagination,” they said in the communique.
They said that they had enjoyed industrial harmony and mutually beneficial industrial relations practises since the assumption of office by Prof. Sunday Ododo, as the General Manager/Chief Executive Officer of the government establishment.
“Our Treasury Single Account remittance has improved tremendously over and above what it used to be since the new management came on board in spite of the ongoing renovation of the complex.
“The staff and management of National Theatre will not tolerate any form of sponsored publication aimed at tarnishing the good image of the workers, the management and the general manager in the eyes of the public,” they said.
They said that the National Art Theatre did not cause indiscriminate parking by tanker drivers at the theatre.
The workers said that the management of National Art Theatre had leased a place for tankers to be parking.
“The land is around National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO),” they said.
The workers added that they did not kick against renovation of National Art Theatre as claimed by the publication.
The workers urged the general public to disregard the anonymous publication, which they said, lacked merit and did not conform to reality.
NAN
